Shadows in the Mist
by Mavros
Summary: Zabuza intends to bring down the corrupt Mizukage and to do this he needs weapons. Weapons like ice, bone, and tidal waves. This is the story of three young shinobi drawn together under the teaching of Zabuza and how they strive to survive as missing nin.
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_

_Hey, this is my first fanfiction so hopefully it goes well! This story is going to be an AU so some characters might be a tad different from the manga. I also haven't read the manga in years so if you notice any huge gaping flaws in plot or times or whatever, just assume they are intentional and go with it!_

_This story is going to be about a group of Mist shinobi who I really enjoyed in the series and thought would make a great story. Haku, Suigetsu, and Kimimaro make for a pretty interesting group, and who better to lead them than Zabuza! _

_I don't know what I'm really doing for pairings in this story yet. It's NOT a yaoi fic so don't even think about it. I'm sure I will have pairings in the story later, I will update when I have a better idea where I'm going. _

**Prologue**  
Restless Souls

The darkness was all that Kimimaro knew. Days and nights cramped up in a small cell for as long as he could remember. The air was always cold and dank, a single candle was given to him on occasion and he was given a book to study through the space between the bars of his cage. The books were all about killing. At first he didn't know many of the words but his mind was as sharp as a razor and he had trained himself and expanded his lexicon with them. His entire vocabulary was built upon the optimization of murder.

He had flashes of memories; they appeared for a moment then dissipated like the smoke from his candle. Memories of times before the darkness and the cage, of running through a field of grass while smiling, then collapsing into a field of flowers.

He remembered his mother, the only soul that had ever shown him kindness. He remembered the day that he had felt a deep stirring in his body and he pushed a small razor sharp blade from his forearm. That was the first day his father paid any attention to him.

Kimimaro was excited at the time, the clan had shunned him upon his birth and he had never given him any real attention. He didn't understand why his mother spent that day in tears and yelling at his father. The next day he was sent to train with the rest of the Kaguya shinobi.

He discovered his bones reacted to threats before he even recognized them himself, a near perfect defense from taijutsu attacks and the knives the shinobi threw at him were either evaded or simply bounced off the areas where his bone had formed like armor under his skin. His father met with the other village leaders and declared him "a weapon worthy of the great Kaguya clan."

The next day he was taken away from his home and thrown into the cell that had been his living place for the past 4 years. That all seemed so long ago and since then he had learned to live in his solitary cage with only the company of the clan members who brought him meals and books. They praised him like he was a tool to be used, not as a human child alone in the dark.

Kimimaro lifted his head as he heard the latches on the door creak open.

"Kimimaro, it's time for your dinner! I even managed to sneak in a new book about your Shikotsumyaku. Aren't you lucky?"

Kimimaro lifted his eyes to the clan member who walked in. He didn't recognize him, he had a feeling that they were switching his guards regularly to ensure no one became too attached to him. It was smart, that's what he would do too in their place.

The food was deposited in his cell along with the book and a new candle. The clan member stared at Kimimaro for a moment, a look of pride on his face.

"You are going to show the rest of the world that the Kaguya are still to be feared and respected one day," said Kimimaro's unknown relative. He then turned and left without another word.

Kimimaro took his plate and moved to sit against the wall. He picked up a fork and knife he had made from the bones in his arm and slowly began cutting and eating his food. When he had first been placed in the cell he had cried every time someone brought him food or books. When they left he would throw himself upon the food and eat like an animal. That was so long ago as well. Now he ate and read calmly and quietly. He had determined after the first few months in isolation that despite being locked in a cage, he would never act like a simple beast.

After finishing his meal he picked up the new book. He held it reverently as he did all the others; they were his only real possessions. The book was a chronicle of the Kaguya clan's achievements for at least two centuries. It was a tale of violence and atrocities, and about their recent decline in status amongst other shinobi clans. There was an entire section of the book devoted to the Shikotsumyaku. Kimimaro didn't know the word, but the illustrations and the context led him to the realization that Shikotsumyaku was the name for his ability.

The book depicted different applications of the kekkai genkai. One illustration showed a shinobi firing the bones from the end of his fingers at high speed and killing multiple people. He would have to try that out. One section was devoted to an illness that was common amongst those who possess Shikotsumyaku. It chronicled all the symptoms, life expectancies, and attempted treatments for the illness.

The book indicated that many Kaguya shinobi with the art didn't live to see twenty. Kimimaro felt that this might be rather skewed since most Kaguya shinobi don't live very long anyway due to their violent nature. This should have probably scared him, but the thought of dying had lost most of its bite in the last few years. He figured it would mostly be like falling asleep and then never waking up from that darkness.

Darkness didn't scare him anymore.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Haku didn't know how long he had been alone. He had been wandering the streets of a city, the name of which he didn't know for at least two winters. Winters in the Land of Water were cold and the snow covered the streets where he would dig through garbage and occasionally beg. The cold never bothered him though, he didn't even have shoes. This was a plus for begging, especially tourists who come to see the countryside in the snow. Everyone pitied the boy without shoes during the winter, but he knew when spring came he would be back to mostly fending for himself.

He still had a hard time looking at the icicles that hung from the buildings. He didn't remember the actual event where he killed his father and the men who were trying to hurt him, he did remember seeing their bodies impaled above him, suspended by the ice that had formed through their bodies. The red blood steaming off the blue ice was constantly locked in his mind.

He hadn't used his ability to control water since that day. Not intentionally anyway. He had fallen from the roof of a building while trying to escape some kids and the snow had seemed to lift up to catch him. He didn't mean for it to happen, it just did.

Haku sat outside a small restaurant, the smells of the food cooking inside made his stomach ache. He couldn't remember the last time he had a cooked meal. The last time he came upon some money he had bought a homeless woman and her sick daughter some medicine. The little girl needed it more and he could always find food in the trash.

A couple walked down the street in their warm kimonos. As they passed, Haku made eye contact with the woman and immediately looked back toward the ground. They were an older couple, probably in their forties. The woman was still lovely and the man was a bit round with a grey mustache and kind eyes. The woman whispered to her companion and the man walked over to Haku and waited for him to make eye contact.

"Hey there my young friend, why don't you get yourself a pair of shoes and a hot meal with this," said the man. As he did so he produced some money from his kimono and attempted to hand it to Haku.

Haku's eyes began to tear up as he nodded then fell into what he believed was a respectful bow.

"Thank you so much for your kindness, sir," was all Haku could say. The man smiled at Haku and laid a hand upon his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, son, my wife would kick my ass if I didn't help you out so you are doing me a favor by accepting it," the man said with a smile.

"Do you have a name, son?" the man asked. Haku was startled for a moment; he hadn't used his name in a long time. "My name is Haku, sir."

"Well then Haku, how would you like to stay the evening with my wife and myself? We have a son who moved out years ago, but some of his clothing might just fit you. He was always thin himself," the man said. The mustache obscured his mouth but it was clear from the wrinkles around his mouth and eyes that he was smiling.

Haku wanted to say yes so badly, not just for the warm bed and home but to just be around people who were kind to him for an evening, but he remembered what had happened to his parents and he could not bring himself to accept the man's offer. There was something wrong with Haku, something so bad that his father had killed his mother and Haku had been forced to take the lives of his father and several men.

"I appreciate your offer, sir, but I'm afraid I can't go with you. But please tell me your names so that I can find you and repay your kindness one day."

The man seemed taken aback by this but only for a moment. Finally he smiled and extended his hand to Haku.

"My name is Shingen, and my wife is Kaede. We live on the outskirts on the village here. The offer to stay is an open one, son. If you ever need somewhere to go just come to our farm and let us know. Us old folks have nothing better to do than dote on a respectful young man like yourself, and we could always use some help with the farm."

Haku was now openly crying at the kindness this couple had shown him.

"Thank you very much Shingen, Kaede, I will do my best to repay you for your help and kindness!" he said while he fell to his knees in a bow.

Shingen patted him on his shoulder and left some words of encouragement before continuing down the street with his wife. Haku stayed in his bowed position for a few moments reflecting on the charity and kindness the likes of which he had never known. After a time he realized his tears had frozen to his cheeks, he wondered how cold it had actually gotten.

He took the money that Shingen had given him and approached a small ramen stand on the street. He looked at the chef behind the counter who stared back at him with a scowl.

"Money up front, or get the hell off my stool, kid."

Haku laid down 10 ryo on the table and ordered a bowl of pork ramen. When the food was placed in front of him the cook snatched the money off the table and proceeded to mumble under his breath, something about damn street urchins and their capacity to keep customers away. Haku apologized for his current state then began eating the ramen one giant bite after another. He had never tasted anything to delicious, at least nothing he could remember.

As he left the ramen stand he began making his way down the street toward the river where he slept. He found his sleeping mat, comprised of hay and a torn blanket and sat down to think before going to sleep. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept on a full stomach, it almost made him guilty.

Finally he laid down to rest. He fell asleep quickly with a new hope in his chest from the kindness that had been shown to him that day.

As he slept in a dreamless sleep, the snow near his mat moved in waves to cover him up from the cold night.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Suigetsu wandered the streets of Kirigakure with no real destination in mind. He had left his clan compound behind hours ago. The Hozuki house was in an uproar due to recent events and no one had noticed him slip out.

"Goddamit Mangetsu," he said under his breath. "What the fuck am I supposed to do now?"

Earlier that day a representative from the Mizukage had appeared in the compound to inform that Mangetsu Hozuki, first heir to the clan, one of the seven swordsmen of the mist and Suigetsu's older brother, had died in combat with an unknown group of missing nin. There wasn't a body of course, Suigetsu's father always liked to say that a Hozuki doesn't return to the earth, they return to the sea.

"What about our plans you big idiot?" Suigetsu said as he crossed a bridge leading him out of the gates of Kirigakure. He stopped over the river and looked at the cold winter water rushing underneath him. He wouldn't cry, Hozuki don't waste water, and crying was the biggest waste of water there was. Instead he stepped up on to the railing of the bridge and looked down in the dark water. With a long sigh he fell forward into the current, releasing his hydrification form.

He was everywhere in the river, he was the river itself and the cold cleared his mind and made him feel alive. He finally gave into the feelings that had been haunting him all day. When he had heard that his brother had died it felt as though the water in his body had turned to ice, he hadn't even been himself enough to mock a couple that had been passionately kissing on the grass near the compound. He relinquished his emotions in the water of the river; no one would ever know he had been crying.

He finally reformed himself near the bank of the river. As he stepped out of the current he sat down on a rock and thought about what the future had in store for him without his brother. Was he going to be made the next heir?

"Fuck that, I'm not cut out for that political shit."

Suigetsu had planned on living his life and being as free as his favorite element. He and his brother would be strong enough to kill anyone they wanted, he would eventually join the seven swordsmen of the mist and become the greatest swordsman ever known. Now his brother was dead, his sword was gone, and the only conciliation for the Hozuki was a mountain of corpses and limbs found next to a puddle of mud that had been his brother.

"I guess I need to think about this then. I don't give a shit what my old man says, I'm not becoming the next lord of the Hozuki. Looks like I'm gonna have to leave Kirigakure then to get out of that mess. I'm definitely going to find that fucker who has my brother's sword, I think I will keep him alive for a few weeks just so he makes sure he knows how serious I am."

Suigetsu began making a checklist in his head of all the things he had to do and when they needed to happen. He mentally dubbed it his "shit-to-do list" and getting out of Kirigakure was on the top. Finding his brother's sword was second, torturing the person who had those swords was three, four, and five on the list. He felt like he needed something more dramatic on the list but he couldn't really think of anything.

He looked long and hard at the river as he thought to himself. His dreams of being one of the infamous swordsmen from Kirigakure were pretty much dashed since most of the swords were out of Kirigakure's hands.

"Fuck it, might as well find all those swords, pick my favorite, and then reform the seven swordsmen! How's that for dramatic?"

Suigetsu left the river feeling much better than when he had arrived. His thoughts had turned from his brother to planning exactly what was going to happen to the current wielder of the sword Hiramekarei. He laughed to himself when he thought about what rough shape he had been in when he jumped in the river.

No one would ever know he had spent 4 hours in that water mourning the loss of his brother…

_And there we have it! I really hope you enjoyed it and it was at least readable. I wanted to prologue to highlight the type of people in the story, though I left out one major person. _

_If you liked it leave me a review and let me know what's good and what could use some work. _

_If you hated then let me know why. _


	2. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_

_Thanks so much for the reviews; I hope you guys enjoy the story! I decided Zabuza and Mei (the fifth Mizukage) would be a pairing in the story. I really appreciate the reviews so keep them coming! _

Chapter 1  
Exodus from the Mist

Zabuza Momochi was a man of action and few words. He was also a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, ex-Anbu, and the aptly dubbed "Demon of the Mist." All of these things meant that he was very good at killing people and not dying in the process and now he was being forced to do something harder for him than anything else.

Zabuza Momochi was running away.

This doesn't usually happen to someone like him and every muscle in his body was crying out to turn around and have a stand up fight against his pursuers. That was what he would normally do, but that only applied when the most powerful shinobi in the Land of Water had ordered the entirety of the villages infamous "hunter-nin" to come after you. As it was, Zabuza was jumping from tree to tree while keeping a thick mist around for at least a mile. If the man he knew only as the Fourth Mizukage was smart, he would dispatch everyone in the village to eliminate him. He knew that Mei Terumi was likely chasing him now, and that meant very bad news for him should she manage to catch him.

Mei had been three years above the class that had Zabuza had murdered. He had a feeling things would have turned out differently if she had been among the hundred students who died that fateful day at his own hands. He knew that Mei was something else entirely from most of the idiotic shinobi hailing from the Mist. She was smart, a damn fine strategist and she wasn't the kind of person to lead from the rear either. She was also very flirtatious and the only woman who managed to make Zabuza blush. Zabuza would never admit it, but she was probably the only person he would miss from Kirigakure now that he was officially a missing-nin.

Zabuza continued on his path, traveling in almost complete silence to avoid detection. His Hiding Mist Technique meant that he didn't have to worry about being seen, but any Mist shinobi worth their weight in water knew to hunt by sound and not sight. That being said he couldn't really hear any signs of pursuit, this either meant that he was succeeding at avoiding Kirigakure shinobi, or the ones around him were good at the Silent Killing Style. If they wanted to try to match him in that game they were more than welcome to try it, no one was better at Silent Killing than Zabuza.

Suddenly a gout of fire erupted from the mist and destroyed the tree Zabuza had landed in. He focused chakra into his feet and rode the falling tree down until it was near the ground, then jumped to another tree only seconds before the flaming tree struck the ground. The resulting crash from the tree trunk and limbs hopefully covered up the sound he had made jumping to the next tree. He waited in perfect silence, waiting for his opponent to make the same mistake every shinobi had made just seconds before Zabuza opened their throats with a blade.

He focused chakra into his ears to amplify their hearing capacity; he could hear someone breathing at a hundred yards in this state. There was only silence to greet him as he didn't move an inch. He racked his brain for any shinobi from the mist who actually used fire styles. It was a short list, but Mei was at the top of it. If he had to fight her he wasn't sure that he would be leaving Kirigakure after all.

Zabuza waited and waited for that first sound that would give away his opponent's position. Each second felt like an eternity with only the sounds of the burning wood to meet his ears. Somewhere in that dense mist was a shinobi smart enough to shut their mouths in his presence, six feet under the soil, Kirigakure was littered with corpses of shinobi who never managed to learn that lesson.

After at least twenty minutes a new sound came to Zabuza's ears. His opponent was using a mist technique expelled by their mouth. He braced himself against the tree to rush the sound and kill his opponent but paused for a moment. Why would his opponent create even more mist in the area? Zabuza's mist was so thick that most shinobi wouldn't be able to see six inches in front of their face. Suddenly the sound of the mist stopped and was followed by the sound of acid eating away the upper part of the forest.

_Shit! I guess I know who I'm up against then, _Thought Zabuza. He jumped from the tree canopy just as he felt the skin on his arms start to sting. He landed where he had gauged the noise had come from earlier and immediately swung his sword in a wide arc in front of him. He managed to earn a gasp from his opponent as she ducked the strike then backed away.

"I knew the Fourth would send out the best shinobi to try to kill me, but I never expected to have to fight you, Mei," said Zabuza.

Mei was locked in a low stance keeping a close eye on his blade. She looked Zabuza in the eyes and a small smile crept onto her face.

"Zabuza… Why are you doing this? I can't believe you thought you could just fight the Mizukage and expect to survive running away from Kirigakure." Mei never stopped smiling, even though she knew one of them would have to die for the other to live.

Zabuza's eyes widened for a moment, he had been prepared to kill his comrades from Kirigakure, but didn't expect to speak with them. He looked a Mei in the eyes and lowered the tip of his blade to the ground. Mei recognized the action as a break from combat and rose to her full height, still smiling.

Zabuza stared at her for a moment then lowered his gaze.

"You know that Yagura is being manipulated by someone, Mei. The guy was never that cruel when we were children. Whoever is pulling the strings in the reason the Land of Water has become so destitute! I don't know if it's genjutsu, blackmail, or something else entirely but this can't be allowed to persist. If I can kill Yagura, then work the next Mizukage to prevent this from happening again, then our country can remember our pride and honor. If I can do this…then I will be able to look at myself in the mirror and not be ashamed of what this country made us!"

Mei actually stopped smiling and had closed her eyes as Zabuza had finished his thoughts. Zabuza stared directly at her waiting for her to respond. Finally she opened her eyes and stared back into his for a moment.

Then she held her hand up to her mouth and began laughing out loud. She even snorted once or twice in the process. Zabuza couldn't begin to fathom just what the hell she found so amusing, but he could tell this wasn't malevolent laughter you hear from bad guys before they do something wicked. He knew because he had taken classes on that laugh in the academy. Kirigakure shinobi were trained in every facet of intimidation.

"So you are telling me that the Demon of the Mist has become a patriot? I'm sorry, that's just so funny don't you think? And here I thought you couldn't be any more attractive, Zabuza Momochi!"

Zabuza couldn't believe she was being so nonchalant about this whole situation. They would probably be fighting to the death in the next ten minutes! The last comment made him glad for the bandages that covered his face and he hoped that the red coloring his cheeks wouldn't rise any further.

After Mei stared at him for another moment smiling, her face dropped to a somber expression that seemed strange written on her beautiful visage.

"You are right though, Zabuza… There is no way that Yagura, the real Yagura would have let us become the Bloody Mist. But you know being a shinobi is about duty to those you serve!"

"I would be serving this country if I had killed the Mizukage! As it is I'm going to find a way to bring him down and then rebuild this country with my own hands! If you plan on trying to stop me then I'm afraid you are going to have to kill me. I won't be brought back to be made an example of!" Zabuza yelled.

He then put his hand upon his sword and drew it up in a defensive stance. He didn't want to kill Mei, to avoid it he had a feeling he would have to take off at least two of her limbs. It would be just another burden that would weigh on him in the coming months.

Mei never prepared a combat stance and continued to stare at Zabuza. Finally she leapt onto the trunk of a tree, facing down toward Zabuza as she began forming hand seals. Torrents of fire flew from her hands and converged on Zabuza's position which he deflected with his sword while producing more mist from the water on the ground. He leapt away and began throwing kunai in her direction. Right as his feet hit the ground he realized that she was slowly turning the ground to mud with a combination of water and earth jutsu. Mud was very noisy…

He hit the ground and slid a few feet before more fireballs came hurtling towards him from above. He drew upon the water on the ground and from the air to form the Gunshot Jutsu. Zabuza began firing condensed water at blinding speeds right where the fireballs were coming from. They struck the tree with enough force to shatter the trunk where Mei was releasing her jutsu. He needed to get her in close range where he could use his sword. Taijutsu wasn't Mei's specialty, which pretty much meant she was good enough to kill most shinobi in a taijutsu match, but Zabuza wasn't most shinobi.

As he continued to dodge fireballs while throwing water bullets, he leapt from muddy ground to tree trunk trying to formulate a plan to bring her into melee range. More fire jutsu flew at his location and he leapt back toward the muddy earth. As he was sliding through the mud on the ground he noticed a lull in the rate of fire jutsu heading his direction. Suddenly waves of heat rolled over him as lava began spurting from the ground in his direction. He leapt above the ground onto a tree. The lava caught the tree on fire and it began to sink into the molten earth.

Zabuza formed several hand seals and began firing water onto the molten rock and it solidified. He landed on the steaming stone and immediately hurled his giant sword where he heard Mei producing more fire jutsu. Her eyes widened as she leapt over the blade and back onto solid ground. When she hit the ground she was surprised to see Zabuza standing directly in front of her swinging a kunai directly at her heart. The blade sank deep into her flesh, it was a fatal blow.

Zabuza exhaled slowly as he felt Mei crumple under the blade. She leaned forward against Zabuza's chest as the lifeblood flowed from the wound. She then looked at him with a sad expression.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this, Zabuza…"

She then proceeded to tightly wrap her arms around his shoulders. It was at this moment Zabuza realized this was a clone of some sort, just before it erupted into fire.

Zabuza was blown onto his back by the force of the blast, the entire front of his body was scorched. Mei leapt from her hidden location in the trees over to him and kneeled over his body.

"I wish it didn't have to this way Zabuza. I know you want me to kill you but we were ordered to bring you back alive."

Mei stood up and pressed chakra into her Anbu tattoo to call for reinforcements and a medic for Zabuza. As soon as she finished she felt a slender cord of water wrap around her waist and arms and pull tight, locking her arms to the side of her body. She was shocked to see Zabuza's body fall into a puddle and she realized he was actually behind her and slowly approaching. He turned her body around to face him and she saw that he had a water whip in his right hand which connected them to each other. The then shot out his left arm with another whip which wrapped around his sword and pulled it to him.

The sword was yanked from the ground and flew at Zabuza which he caught without breaking stride.

"I'm assuming you called a medic for me then, Mei? If I know Anbu it will take them about 10 minutes to get here, the organizations is filled with slackers these days. I know if I don't find a way to stop you then you will just keep chasing me…So I'm sorry about this, truly I am."

Mei just stared at him with her arms locked at their side as he took the sword and angled it in front of him, that same smile never leaving her face. Her eyes widened only slightly as he pushed the blade through her chest and out the other side. It wasn't a lethal wound, Zabuza knew enough about human anatomy to know that she would be out of commission for a few days, but with treatment she would recover. She gasped as he pulled the blade from her chest and released the water whip holding her in place.

He dropped his sword to the ground and caught her before she fell. He gently laid her onto the surface of the ground and instructed her to keep pressure on the front of the wound. As she lay on the ground she reached up toward Zabuza's face with a blood stained hand and pulled his bandages down. He didn't have much time to waste but he really didn't want to leave her alone like this, he knew Anbu's procedures by heart but if he was wrong about their timing she could bleed out. She stared at his face and continued to smile and took his chin in her hands, the blood from her wound smeared onto his face but neither of them cared.

"You take care, Zabuza Momochi, Next time I see you…hopefully we won't be trying to kill eachother, and you can start trying to apologize for the huge damn scar this is going to leave."

Zabuza stood and turned to leave, He readjusted the bandages on his face and turned to look at Mei one last time. He then leapt back into the tree tops as he continued his exodus from Kirigakure.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Zabuza had finally escaped the search area for the Kirigakure Anbu. He had a straight run toward the coast hoping that they would think he was traveling toward the Land of Fire. Once he had reached the coast he had turned north to one the islands far north of Kirigakure. The air was very chilly here and the ground was covered with ice and snow. He knew that regions like this hated shinobi due to the civil wars that had permeated the Land of Water over the last several decades. It was just another thing about this country that made him sick. It did have the added benefit of limited shinobi movement in these areas.

He had been traveling through the countryside for several days. He managed to find enough animals to hunt to keep himself fed and his only real concern was planning on how he would gather enough resources to make his next move against the Mizukage. He couldn't get Mei's face out of his mind; he was sure that Anbu would find her and return her to Kirigakure. If the Mizukage was rough with her then Zabuza would have a whole new reason to murder that puppet.

After several more days of traveling he came across a small village covered in snow. This was one of the few tourist traps still functioning in the modern economy. Clearly this village made its money during the winter months, it looked so picturesque covered in snow with icicles hanging from the roof.

He walked by a ramen stand and stopped to have a meal that wasn't cooked over a campfire. As he sat down the man behind the bar scowled in his direction. Zabuza didn't hide the fact he was a shinobi in the least bit, still wearing his mist forehead guard angled on his head. The man walked over and eyeballed the massive sword Zabuza wore across his back. Zabuza could tell the cook was nervous and kept his eyes locked on the man the entire time.

"We don't serve shinobi around here," the man said while his eyes darted between Zabuza's eyes and his sword.

Zabuza didn't say a word, he simply reached his right arm behind his shoulder and unclasped his sword, then pulled it from his back and leaned it against the bar. He never stopped looking at the cook the entire time.

"Look I don't want any trouble from no shinobi! Folks around here just don't like your type and it's bad for business to serve guys like you!" The man was nearing hysterics.

"I will have a large bowl of pork ramen. And if you don't do your job and deliver a bowl of pork ramen to me, then I'm afraid this village will lose a ramen stand, and gain another reason to hate shinobi."

The man turned blue as his eyes bugged from their sockets and he began preparing the ramen. Zabuza wasn't opposed to being civil, but so few things were civil in this country. He would spend the evening in this town and then begin scouring the islands north of Kirigakure for any potential shinobi.

The Land of Water was home to some incredible kekkei genkai, but the people of the Land of Water were simply too shortsighted to realize the potential of bloodline limits. A young shinobi with a bloodline limit was like a sword waiting to be forged, if they were given enough time and attention then they could be the greatest of tools, but the fools that inhabited the Land of Water had not given enough time or thought to training.

The swords were too brittle and they shattered under any form of strain. This happened to entire clans in the region. Entire kekkei genkai were obliterated from the face of the world due to the selfish desires of violent clans. Zabuza could really use some of those lost weapons now.

Finally the ramen was prepared, and Zabuza began to eat. It wasn't bad, but the Land of Fire would always have the best ramen in the world, of that there was no doubt. He finished his meal quickly and laid his money on the counter. As he departed he gave the shopkeeper a withering glance as he strapped his sword onto his back. He slowly walked the streets of the town, if his reception at an inn was as chilly as the one at the restaurant then he decided he would rather just camp out in the forest.

As he walked across a bridge leading out of town he passed a small boy sitting along the far side. The child was dirty and clearly destitute, he wasn't even wearing shoes. _This is just another side effect of this country's decline. Kids like this should be in the shinobi academy, or working with their families…_ Zabuza thought to himself.

The child turned and stared at him as he approached the bridge. Zabuza felt a strange feeling slip down his spine when he made eye contact with the boy. There was something strange about him. He looked at his feet which should have been red, swollen, and potentially in the first stages of frost bite. They were perfectly fine, the child was covered in rags and should have been in the early stages of hypothermia, but he wasn't even shivering.

The signs all pointed to a bloodline limit that had died out before Zabuza was even born. If it was still in existence then Zabuza may have just stumbled upon the single strongest weapon in existence.

"Boy, does the name Yuki mean anything to you?"

The child shrank back from Zabuza when he spoke, as he did the snow around his feet moved in unnatural formations, almost like they were preparing a barrier against Zabuza. That was all he needed to see, this child was a surviving member of the Yuki clan, they had been hunted to extinction following the last civil war in the Land of Water. Their power was fabled, the Ice Release was once one of the most powerful kekkei genkai in existence.

"What's your name boy?"

The child was visibly shaken but he continued to stare into Zabuza's eyes.

"My name…my name is Haku, sir."

"Haku, why are you alone out here? Where is your family?"

Haku's eyes fell to the ground. It was clear to Zabuza that something traumatic had occurred in the boy's past. That was one of the tragic thing about people who aren't taught to control their bloodline limits, they usually hurt those around them.

"Haku, what is your purpose for living? What do you want to accomplish in this life?"

Haku didn't know what to say. He had simply been surviving for the last several years. He thought of Shingen and Kaede and the kindness they had shown him. If he could find a way to repay their kindness and be like them then he would be happy.

"I don't know my purpose, sir. I don't think I have one, but I know I would like to be kind and repay kindness shown to me."

Zabuza never glanced away from the boy. What kind of person with that much raw power just wants to be nice their entire life? The simple truth was Zabuza needed this boy to help him. Within 3 years of training, Zabuza believed this boy could be even more powerful than him.

"Haku, my name is Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist. I'm going to offer you the chance to work with me to bring about change to this land. I will train you to fight and use that power that dwells just below your surface. You will get hurt and you will kill people, but together we can change this world."

Haku's eyes widened and he gaped at Zabuza. Zabuza stared at him for a moment then turned to continue down the path he had been following.

Haku sat and thought about everything he had heard. He didn't know this man but there was something in his eyes that Haku had never seen before. Zabuza's resolve and strength and were etched upon his entire body, in his voice, and in his eyes. Haku knew that this man would accomplish his dreams and neither man nor demon could stand in his way. He stood up quickly and ran after Zabuza. He would follow this man's dreams until he was able to find his own, and hopefully, one day he would be able to help this land and bring kindness to this cold world. One day he may be able to forgive himself for what had happened to his family…


End file.
